I'm going to blame this dream on the fact that Razzi's Change of Heart was updated recently and that I've been playing a lot of Harvest Moon Hero of Leaf Village, so my subconscious mixed them up.

Question Box

Box 17: Ludwig's Farm

Ludwig Von Koopa couldn't believe his predicament, there he was in a farm in the middle of nowhere wearing overalls of all things, ready to work instead of compose as he should be doing. Artists were not built for manual labor, save for fighting the Mario brothers of course. Thinking of those plumber pests made his attire feel more ironic, but he had been told that not only plumbers, but also farmers wear overalls as their main attire and he needed all the inspiration he could get if he was going to survive this challenge.

The lands of the Koopa Kingdom were not famous for their crops as a lot of the territory was volcanic and not fit for planting, but the large kingdom had made due with what it had for a long time, and then there came the blockade.

Bowser had kidnapped Princess Peach again, nothing new there, but when the Mario brothers searched castle after castle without locating her, the Mushroom Kingdom was left in a panic. As a result, the allied kingdoms decided to stop all trading with the Koopa Kingdom, though they were not crazy enough to actually jump into a war, regardless of how dear an ally the Mushroom Kingdom was. Even if there was no war, the blockade on trading caused the Koopa Kingdom's food supplies to decrease considerably.

Peach had been moving from one castle to another extending her secret vacation, she felt guilty about the wild goose chase, but not too much since the security videos from the castles showed that Mario was having the time of his life playing hide and seek with her. However, when she became aware of the food problem, she decided it was time to go home, so as to not cause a negative effect to befall the citizens of the Koopa Kingdom. Bowser had his hands tied in the matter, wishing to avoid an all out war between the kingdoms so as to not further strain the relations with the Mushroom Kingdom and more so King Toadstool, whose daughter he wanted to marry.

By a series of loop holes and crazy ideas, Bowser's solution to the problem was to find a portion of fertile land in his territory and somehow build a farm that would supply food to the entire kingdom. Since he was busy entertaining Peach, he appointed his eldest son, Ludwig, to become the farmer that would save his kingdom. The crown prince was not sure if his father was love drunk, just drunk, or both when he made that choice, but either way, the order had been passed.

So there he was, stuck in a farm wearing blue overalls and a blue cap with a yellow brim and the word 'toy' in red letters in the front. His shell was on his back over the clothes, held in place by the same mysterious force that allowed him to use it as a backpack that defied all the laws of physics. The shell contained a hammer, an axe and many other tools along with all the fruits, berries and other such things he managed to collect and needed to stuff in the equality logic defying mail box, for them to disappear at night and somehow be delivered to their final destination. Ludwig suspected Kamek and Kammy were involved in all that, and wondered why they didn't just make food themselves and solved the problem, but alas, Bowser had a way to take the long route on many situations.

Ludwig's farm was not only composed of berry bushes, fruit trees and mushrooms he planted and had to water daily, unless it rained of course. The farm also had live stock, sort of. He raised chain chops in place of cows, obviously milk had no place in the equation, the farm was crazy, but not that insane. The chain chops were there to protect the crops, which would be eaten by wild yoshis, plants, bushes trees and all, overnight if left unguarded, thus giving Ludwig the need to plant, water and nurture the flora from the beginning in order to continue the harvest.

There was one yoshi, a blue one, named Boshi, who looked like he bought his sunglasses in the same place as Roy, that lived in harmony with Ludwig on his farm. Of course Ludwig would need to feed Boshi everyday or he would eat the entire plantation overnight, though ironically he was satisfied with a regular plate of food if given willingly. Boshi was in turn useful to Ludwig by allowing him to ride him in the yoshi races held in a near by no name hick town where people would pay more for a mushroom than they would for a block of gold.

Speaking of gold, there was also a very rich mine near by, which Ludwig was certain his father would love to know about and never would if it was his choice, not after sending him to that forsaken farm and expecting him to turn it into a super farm.

The farm also had a population of birdos, which Ludwig had to feed and care for daily as well, and would lay eggs, or more like spit them out, which Ludwig also had to ship away along with the rest of the produce. There was also a dog named Pochi that didn't do much save for running around looking cute.

Between planting, watering, harvesting, feeding, collecting and racing, Ludwig had his hands full on the farm. He only hoped to survive the ordeal with a shred of the sanity he knew he was losing: he was starting to like farming...

End of Box 17

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario (or Ludwig) or Harvest Moon.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.